Sometimes we’re not quite in touch with what may be affecting us. How is your soundscape? Did you know that sound affects health and productivity?
Let me ask this: Do you know how sound affects your flow and creativity when you write? Sound powerfully affects our everyday lives as well as our work – especially creative work.
This is a very short (5 1/2 min) TED talk given by Julian Treasure on the power and influence of sound. It is loaded. When you view it the 3rd time, it will click for you.
How can we apply this to writing?
Most of the soundscape around us is generating accidental and unpleasant sound. Because of this, over time we tend to suppress the significance of sound. We’re not even aware how sound is affecting us for bad or good. But we need to raise the importance of sound in our consciousness. In what ways does sound affect us?
Physiological
Sound can cause our heart rate and our breathing to increase. It can create stress (a creativity killer), causing the release of detrimental hormones like cortisol on our bodies. Conversely, the sound of surf can slow our brain waves, relaxing us and helping us to enter into a state of rest where we actually find the creative flow.
Psychological
The most powerful sound is music, affecting our emotions and our thinking. We need to be aware that sound is associative – we associate certain emotions and even thought with certain sounds. Birdsong fosters reassurance and relaxation, again helping us to be more creative.
Cognitively
Research shows that if we expose ourselves to 2 or more types of different sounds at the same time, our productivity falls to 1/3 of what it could be. Open-concept office space can reduce productivity by 2/3rd’s. What does this say about the environment in which you write? Are we shaping our soundscape for optimum inspiration and creativity?
Behaviorally
At least on the inside, we move away from unpleasant sound and toward pleasant sound. Is our soundscape congruent with our vision and writing objectives?
So we need to be aware, present to the moment, taking charge of our environment and intentionally designing soundscapes that help us in our writing.
Q4U: Will you take charge of your soundscape when you write or do any creative work? What about your everyday life? What changes can you see yourself making?
See Clear Your Workspace, Release Your Creativity
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